By John B. Olson
Pages 416
Recommended by Me
First Sentence A tear ran down Melchi's cheek, losing itself in the curl of his wild beard.
Synopsis
Hailey is a grad student in San Francisco. One night a dark monster attacks her and she is rescued by a strange homeless man. Melchi has lived his life on the streets tracking a monster known as the Mulo. When the Mulo attacks a woman and he saves her, both their lives we'll be changed forever.
What it has going for it
Well, I really wanted to like this one. It sounded so good and it's a bit obscure so I was hoping I'd found a gem but no such luck. It was pretty action packed, however, with lots of things constantly going on. It jumps right into the story with out a lot of back story to weigh you down and had an interesting premise, which is always good. Um, yeah, I can't think of much else it had going for it.
What's lacking
I love when a book just jumps right into a story and doesn't do so much explaining that you feel like yelling, "yeah, OK, I get it!" And while this one jumped into the action right away it never got to that point where you understand what's going on from character's conversations or actions. Seriously, four hundred plus pages and it never really made sense. I had to drag myself kicking and screaming through the whole book and was left just staring at the last page with an angrily raised eyebrow. A reviewer on Goodreads described it saying, "like I was looking through a steamed up window all the time. I just wanted to wipe it clean so I could see better." Agreed! Oh well, at least I finished the dang thing!
Yea or nay?
I'm sure plenty of people will like it and do like it but I wouldn't recommend it.
I hate it when a book you think has a lot of promise disappoints. It's amazing, we all moan about massive info-dumps and then we moan again when we don't know what's going on! :P But this one sounds definitely not good. Sorry you didn't enjoy it Jenny!
ReplyDeleteThe Cait Files
Yeah, we never seem to be fully satisfied.
DeleteI have to say that I wouldn't have got past the first sentence. Beards and I are on the outs. ;)
ReplyDeleteLol! Yeah, the whole time I was thinking, ew!
DeleteIt amazes me that you stick out books like this. I tend to put them down and forget about them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why it's so hard for me to just give up but it is.
DeleteIs this the one you were trying to decide whether or not to abandon with 100 pages to go?
ReplyDeleteYep, this was it. Should have just gave up. :(
DeleteOh, well. Live and learn. :) It took me a long time before I learned to set aside books that aren't doing it for me.
DeleteI've done it with a few but they have to be REALLY bad.
DeleteIt's always a bummer when a story doesn't live up to it's potential. Kudos on sticking with it to the very end, as I would have probably given up halfway thru!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I SHOULD have just given up.
DeleteYeesh. This sounds like it wouldn't be for me. I'm beginning to realize that I kind of dislike monsters in my books. Well, most monsters.
ReplyDeleteIt was just weird! I'm all for "monsters" but I never did find out what this one was. So annoying!
DeleteThis book actually SOUNDS good. Too bad it didn't live up to expectations. I love that line from goodreads.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've found that synopses are often misleading. Doesn't stop me from reading them but, hey.
Delete